DIY: Converting Hella 500's to HID!!!

[stevet47]

Originally Posted by Nizmo4X2

sweet, now just gotta have somewhere to mount the lights

by the way, which bulb did you use? 9007 like the headlights?

Get whatever kit is the same as the stock halogen bulb that comes in the lights you are using.. The Hella 500's use H3 bulbs, so I got an H3 HID kit.

[SQnismo]

that looks great. how well is it sealed now? my 500's havent even been delivered and i already wana do this. any idea on where you going to mount them??

[stevet47]

Originally Posted by SQnismo

that looks great. how well is it sealed now? my 500's havent even been delivered and i already wana do this. any idea on where you going to mount them??

It is sealed just as well as it was before.
I am going to mount them infront of the grill, either on a light bar or i'll just make up some sort of bracket.

[Mylt1]

Steve, that is a nice write up. do you happen to have any night time shots of just the 500's and then them modded?

[stevet47]

Originally Posted by Mylt1

Steve, that is a nice write up. do you happen to have any night time shots of just the 500's and then them modded?

That is what the 2 pics of the lights illuminated are. The left dim/yellow is the stock halogen light in one Hella 500, and the one on the right is the HID converted Hella 500.



EDIT: You probably mean beam shots dont you... No I don't have them yet, but I'll see what I can do.



OK, here is the best I could do for beam shots. The lights aren't mounted yet, so I was only able to hold 1 light in my hand while taking the picture with the other hand, and it is like 10degrees out, so I was a little shaky.

Also, these are driving beams, so they are made for a little more distance than I was able to show in the pics.

Stock halogen Hella 500 on tree:


Same tree (just a little lower) with the HID Hella 500:


Stock halogen Hella 500 on bush:


Same bush with the HID Hella 500:




And my attempt at some beamshots on a wall.
Stock lowbeams:


Stock lowbeams with fogs:


Stock highbeams:


ONE Hella 500 HID. Remember this is ONE light compared to the stock headlights, which is obviously 2 lights:




Color difference:

[stevet47]

[Mylt1]

sorry bout that. should have made it a littler clearer. yea pattern difference was what i was looking for. how is the spill out of the light? any problems where there is no projector to cut off the light? i may mod the factory fogs just to see. would buy a spare set first though.

oh, forgot. thanks for the pics.

[PimpinBlkFrontier]

Originally Posted by Shinjari

i know....i can get those hella 500's for kinda cheap....hell why bother with getting those when i can just get some cheapo's from autozone/walmart and just replace the internals. All i want is the enclosure. good job at showing us how 'easy' it is =)

oh yeah X2....price on HIDs?

I was thinking the same thing, i had cheapos from harborfreight $10 a piece when on sale with the lights that came in them and they were bright as hell so i know the reflection and output would be nice i think i might have to weld together a light bar after all

[demondrive]

do HIDs burn a lot hotter than regular bulbs i too would like to do this to some of my ghetto fabulous lights i have but am kinds worried about them not holding up to the heat, or maybe im retarded=) also somewhat related... what is all that "stuff" that comes with the HID kit? a giant capacitor?

[stevet47]

Originally Posted by demondrive

do HIDs burn a lot hotter than regular bulbs i too would like to do this to some of my ghetto fabulous lights i have but am kinds worried about them not holding up to the heat, or maybe im retarded=) also somewhat related... what is all that "stuff" that comes with the HID kit? a giant capacitor?

HIDs burn cooler than halogen. HIDs are 35w, while halogens are 55watt or more.
The kits include the bulbs, balasts, and wiring.